Discussing economics, policy and the mundanity of human existence

In the past year or so, a contentious ‘fight’ about net neutrality has been taking place in the US. You may wonder “why should I care?” If you are a person who uses the internet for more than five minutes a day, you should care because it may soon affect you. Whether it is checking your emails while stuck in Dhaka traffic, scrolling through Facebook and Instagram posts on your phone, or watching YouTube or Netflix videos at home – all of those things are likely to be affected by how this issue plays out in the US.

The availability of Uber’s Ride Pass is not based on a limited number of passes that are available on a first come first serve basis, but rather it is a customized offer to certain Uber customers. In an experiment, a few of my friends and I simultaneously tried to purchase the Ride Pass and only I succeeded. This is useful information that will be relevant in our upcoming analysis of economics behind the Ride Pass.

For over a year, Uber has offered a limited monthly pass program that allows discounted rides to its users in a few large cities around the US. The pass is a great deal if you can get your hands on it.

This is the first part of a series of three posts on the Uber monthly pass looking into how the pass is structured, how it has changed over time and some of the economics behind it, and how a hypothetical graduate student’s demand function for transportation changes in response to changes in the structure of the Uber pass.

About the author: I am a grad student living in Boston finishing up my PhD in Economics. This website is mainly an outlet, an extension of an idea I had a few years ago but never gotten around to working on. The blog will mostly involve posts discussing economics and policy issues and other things from my mundane life. I spend an inordinate amount of time reading and thinking, but don’t often finish my thought or write it down. This should encourage me to bring a little structure and organization to my thoughts. I am preparing more content for the website, and targeting at least a new post each week.